Hurricanes: Lack Thereof

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Our Hurricane Premium is 80% of our total premium.

The following article is entitled "For 8th straight year, no hurricanes hit Florida":

http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...CLES/131209992

If premiums were set properly, for the normal amount of anticipated storms, and then they didn't happen, there must be a lot of $$$ from hurricane premiums sitting somewhere, huh?!

Our premiums have not gone down.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Prices are quick to rise, very slow to fall.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

That depends on what you think about whether the risk of hurricanes in Florida has been overstated by the insurers, or if this is just a temporary hiatus. If the expected risk from hurricanes hasn't changed, (and might actually be increasing if you concur with some of the assessments of climate change scientists), then the fact that there has been a hiatus doesn't change the potential economic exposure and thus the premium should remain unchanged.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

If the premium was appropriate for when there are storms, it seems there should be a pile of money somewhere after 8 or 9 years of none.

Oh, wait, I already said that.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

I bought a house this year (SW Florida) and I was surprised at how low my insurance is... $250k coverage right at $100 a month...

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

There is a pile of money. It's on the insurance company's balance sheet.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I bought a house this year (SW Florida) and I was surprised at how low my insurance is... $250k coverage right at $100 a month...

Lots of variables.

Age of house. Proximity to the Gulf. Shape of roof. Windows.

etc.

The ones that only Citizens will insure are high.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...ICLE/131219638

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Ron that is a pretty good premium, which company?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

"Or, to put it another way, those private insurers went out of business during a time when the state was handing them money, steering customers their way and when there were zero hurricanes in Florida.

"There is no reason a company with sufficient capital should have failed in the last eight years," said Gavin Magor, a senior analyst at Weiss Ratings, a Florida-based watchdog organization. "We haven't had any hurricanes, and all of these companies are gone. Failed. This doesn't cost the state money; it costs residents money."

"It's because Citizens is using premiums to build its reserves while the private companies are lining their pockets with your money and then bailing before the next hurricane hits."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...urance/2185974
- - - - - -
That articles suggests there is some suspicious going on. Specifically, insurance companies are moving funds to subsidiary companies and then folding.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

No Hurricanes, but rates keep rising:

"Even in hugely profitable periods, the rate hikes just keep coming."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...ICLE/131219928

"No hurricanes, but Florida’s insurance rates keep rising"

http://tbo.com/weather/no-hurricanes...ng-b82496625z1

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

United Property and Casualty
Sarasota Fl

Sold to me by an Allstate Agent

The house is cbs construction, just 10 years old and qualifies for all the various discounts, (trusses are strapped down, protection for all the windows and doors, reinforced garage door, etc. and its at better than a 10' elevation so I dont need flood insurance even though Im on a canal.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

And the lesson is: if Citizens is your only choice...dont buy it

What did we learn from that old Texaco commercial? You can pay me now or pay me later.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Jim, let us know when you get to Florida so I can have someone do a hurricane dance so that your premiums will be justified.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

Insurance premiums are set by the risk of loss, not the loss itself.

I just added up all the various insurance premiums I pay each month; house, cars, health, and life, Its over a thousand a month for two of us. Thats a bunch, but Ive never been tempted to start a fire or wreck the car to collect

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

If the premium was appropriate for when there are storms, it seems there should be a pile of money somewhere after 8 or 9 years of none.

Oh, wait, I already said that.

If you truly believed that you would be moving your retirement funds into the stocks of companies that provide Florida hurricane insurance. Instead of complaining, get on the gravy train. Rght?